Around 170 secondary students toured campus and teaching facilities at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and attended a roundtable sharing session with distinguished guests on 25 February at CityU’s “Dare to Dream, Ways to Success” programme.

This is the seventh year that CityU has hosted a programme aimed at helping secondary students equip themselves for their futures.

The MC this year was Ms Akina Fong, a former news anchor, and the guest speakers were Mr Leung Kee-cheong, former Principal of Fresh Fish Traders’ School, and Mr Wu Siu-hong, Hong Kong’s top ten-pin bowling champion and a cancer survivor.

In his welcoming speech, Professor Way Kuo, University President, highlighted the importance of critical thinking. He said there was a widely circulated online assertion that Indians had a lower rate of dementia than people from many other countries because their favorite food, curry contains curcumin which can help prevent and treat dementia.

However, since Indians have a comparatively short life expectancy, it is not surprising that there are fewer cases of dementia in India.

Professor Kuo pointed out that because we live in an era that emphasises data and research, the misuse of statistics could lead to the communication of erroneous messages, so students should learn to think more critically.

Professor Kuo also talked about the importance of putting learning into practice and the recognition of CityU as an institution that integrated teaching and research.

At the roundtable discussion, Mr Leung encouraged students to confront challenges and endeavour to enter a university to learn new knowledge and keep pace with the development of society. Exercising was a great way to release pressure when stressed, he added.

Mr Wu said that setting a goal was the first step to success. “It is quite boring to keep practicing bowling day after day, but I wanted to stand on the prize presentation stage. I will never give up practicing,” Mr Wu said.

In addition to the sharing session, students got a taste of CityU’s innovative learning environment during a tour of campus facilities and laboratories, including the Gateway Education Laboratory, the DEC Laboratory, the Nuclear Reactor Simulation Laboratory, the Omnimedia Digital Newsroom and the Future Cinema Studio.

Two Form 4 students, Lo Pui-hei and Lai Chun-wing, said that they had been impressed by CityU’s well-equipped facilities and inspired by the sharing session with the guest speakers during the event.